Raffaele Riario

Raffaele Riario (3 May 1461-9 July 1521) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church during the Renaissance.

Biography
Raffaele Riario was born into a poor family in Savona; his mother was the niece of Pope Sixtus IV. On 10 December 1477, the Pope made him Cardinal of San Giorgio in Velabro, and he became administrator of the dioceses of Cuenca, Pisa, Salamanca, Treguier, and Osma. He had a handsome income with no obligations except to appoint a vicar; he was just sixteen and studying canon law at the University of Pisa when he was made a cardinal. In 1478, he was arrested in Florence due to his relations to Girolamo Riario and Francesco Salviati, members of the Pazzi Conspiracy, but Lorenzo de Medici had him released a few weeks later. In 1488, Pope Innocent VIII sent him as a Papal legate to his uncle Girolamo Riario, who revolted against the Holy See. The Cardinal later beat the Pope's son Franceschetto Cybo in a game of cards and used the money wagered to build the Palazzo della Cancelleria. After the death of the Pope in 1492, he helped to ensure order in Rome, and Rodrigo Borgia persuaded him to switch sides from Giuliano Della Rovere's camp to his own faction in exchange for the Bishopric of Cartagena. Riario voted for Borgia, who became "Pope Alexander VI". In 1493, he was sent as a legate to Caterina Sforza to prevent her from allowing the French military access through Forli. In 1517, Riario took part in Alfonso Petrucci's conspiracy against Pope Leo X, and he was forced to surrender his palace to the Pope in exchange for his life. He died in Naples in 1521.